"Generations" SDCC 2015 Exclusive Long Haul Toy Review

General Information:Release Date: July 9, 2015Price Point: $179.99Retailer: San-Diego Comic-Con Exclusive, HasbrotoyshopAccessories: In a boxed set with other five Constructicons. Includes Devastator forearms/weapons x 2; Chest plate/weapons; Rifle (splis into two weapons)

The largest Transformers San Diego Comic-Con 2015 exclusive was a boxed set featuring the Decepticon Combiner Devastator. Based on the "Combiner Wars" version of the character, this set included all six Constructicons and featured an exclusive deco and packaging. This review will focus on Long Haul, the largest member of this boxed set.

Vehicle Mode:
The first thing you'll notice about Long Haul (even from promotional photos) is that he's huge. This is no surprise as Long Haul forms the core of Devastator, so he has to be large, strong and solid as a figure and "body section" of Devastator. Long Haul weighs in at an impressive 14.9 ounces (approximately 422 grams). Contrast that with Leader Class Megatron who is 11.2 ounces (about 317.5 grams) and you really get some interesting perspective on how much plastic is contained in this one figure. While the other figures in the set weigh in at around the Voyager Class figure range, this bad boy is clearly more of a Leader Class figure based on size and the sheer amount of plastic.

Like his G1 counterpart Long Haul is a dump truck. Compared to the other Constructicons in this set he is massive. He's easily thicker and wider than the others. Indeed, if you look at the door details on this vehicle and assume they are human sized, Long Haul could easily be over three stories tall! With that in mind, details like his giant wheels and the truck bed in the back are positively ginormous! Long Haul isn't just about scale however, he also sports a lot of the same details found on the G1 version of Long Haul. These details include:

The front of the truck has small, raised rectangular sections with circles inside of them (possibly extra lights). These are right above the headlights.

The cabin section of the vehicle is set on the left side of the vehicle and the front section angles forward.

On the right side of the vehicle's front end is a large pipe (perhaps a smokestack).

There is a rectangular panel that sits on top of the vehicle's cabin section and the aforementioned pipe.

The middle of the vehicle's front end extends out a bit and it comes to a point in the middle on top.

Underneath the front end of the vehicle is a flat panel that extends out a bit. This one however has the added embelishment of two angled pieces extending even further out on the right and left sides.

The sides of the truck bed have raised, vertical lines that resemble those on G1 Long Haul.

On top of all the G1 callbacks, there are quite a few intricate details in this sculpt. The front end has a very distinct grille pattern with small horizontal lines blocked off by thicker ones. There are also two doors to the cabin section, a large one and a smaller one next to it. In between the cabin section and the pipe on the right side is a panel with cross hatch patterns on it suggesting a walkway of some sort. On the sides of the front end you'll also find rungs of a ladder which again drive home how enormous this vehicle is.

Long Haul is cast in bright green, black and purple plastic. The green is the most heavily used color, with black found on the aforementioned pipe and the wheels. The purple plastic sticks out on the sides, similar to how Long Haul's robot arms were on the sides of his vehicle mode. Paint details are done in metallic purple, silver, gold and black. The purple is used for the windows of the cabin section. Silver is used for both small and large details. Small details include the all the sections with lights sculpted into them in the front as well as the edges of the purple sections on the sides. Gold is used on the vertical lights in the front. Black is the most heavily used color. You'll find it on the grille sections in the front. Metallic yellow and black hazard stripe stickers are found on the sides and the top of the vehicle's front section. The yellow on these stickers looks gold in certain light which gives it a distinct look. The detail that ties everything together is a silver and purple Decepticon symbol tampographed to the center of the vehicle's front end, right above the grille.

The deco on this figure features a lot of details that do not appear on the promotional photos of the mass release. This includes most of the silver and gold details. The mass release version also appears to lack the purple on the windows and the silver on the wheels. The mass release version is also missing the hazard stripe stickers.

From a functional standpoint Long Haul rolls on all four wheels without any scraping on the ground. Due to the way he transforms, the truck bed cannot swing back to unload its cargo. However, he can hold all the Devastator accessories included with this set. If you split the wing/chest piece up into its three pieces the wings can sit in the truck bed. The rifle needs to be split and those pieces can be placed towards the front of the truck bed. The middle of the wing/chest piece attaches to a 5mm hole towards the front and the two forearm/rocket launchers can attach to 5mm holes towards the back. It's very fitting for Long Haul of all characters to be the one that holds all the gear for the team since his vehicle mode is suited for the job (no doubt making him miserable in the process!).

Transformation to Robot Mode:

Detach any weapons and set them aside.

Swing the purple sections on the sides out.

Push the front section forward a bit, then push up the truck bed and swing that piece up.

Pull the robot arms out to the sides, then striaghten out each robot arm.

Swing the robot head up.

Make sure the arms are out to the sides and the truck bed piece is angled, then rotate the lower body around.

Swing each leg outward a couple of clicks (it's a ratchet joint so don't worry about the noise) and swing the robot feet out from the inside of the lower legs.

Swing the front section of the vehicle mode down and push it into place.

Push the arms up against the upper body.

Robot Mode:
So there's no way to get around saying it: Long Haul is one chunky looking robot in this mode. His arms look a bit small in proportion to his chest and legs. His legs are super thick again, a bit out of proportion to the rest of him. The first time I saw promotional photos of him I thought of Tick Tock from the "Wizard of Oz" books so I can't help but see Long Haul as this old time machine clanking away as he walks.

Thanks to him sharing a similar vehicle mode to his G1 counterpart, Long Haul also looks similar in robot mode. He has the cabin section of the vehicle and the pipe on either side of his head. The front of the vehicle forms his chest and his head sculpt is based on his appearance in the animated series with an oval shaped "helmet" section featuring a large crest, visor eyes and a mouthplate.

That said, the legs are pretty different in design due to the way Long Haul transforms. Instead of the truck bed becoming his legs, the bed winds up on his back here and his legs are separate pieces. I already mentioned they're super chunky looking so no point in belaboring that point. At the top of each thigh is a thin vent like detail. These are a design based on G1 Long Haul's stickers. He also has a red triangle in the middle of his hip area, another detail borrowed from the G1 toy's stickers. Overall the sculpt looks great and even with the design differences since G1 there's no mistaking just who this character is meant to be.

Long Haul is still mostly bright green in this mode, but the purple and black colors appear as well. Purple in particular is used for the middle of the torso section, giving a nice distinctive "break" between the bright colors on the top and bottom of the body. Silver paint is used for detailing on the thighs, head, arms and the middle of the hip section. Red paint is used on the top of the thighs and the middle of the hip section to simulate the look of the stickers from the G1 figure. The eyes are painted red. All the details from the front of the vehicle carry over into this mode on the upper body, so there's plenty of eye catching detail. In this mode Long Haul looks a lot like his mass release version except for the smaller silver, gold and purple details on the upper body. The silver on his arms is also absent on the mass release verison. The only section that looks a bit plain are the lower legs which have no deco on them in the front.

There are sixteen points of articulation on Long Haul. This includes three in the arms four in each leg. Most of his joints on the legs are ratchet joints, a necessity since these are some of the key joints that are used for Devastator. Unfortunately Long Haul lacks forward swinging elbow articulation. His elbows can swivel in and out, but not up. Current buzz is that the Takara Tomy version of Long Haul will have elbow articulation that swings up, but if you're sticking to versions released outside of Japan you know what to expect. Each fist has 5mm holes in it that allow you to attach weapons. You can also use the 5mm holes on the truck bed as weapon storage, though the weight could tip him backwards so be careful.

Final Thoughts:
Long Haul is a problematic figure in that most fans dismissed him outright because of his bulky design. However, he is bulky by necessity. Forming the core of Devastator means he has to be big, solid and able to hold all the other parts of Devastator together. I admit he looks funny, but at the same time I think he's a fun, solid toy. He's much stronger as a part of this set however. Had he been released as an individual figure he would've been a harder sell.